


Dreamcatcher

by buzzbird



Category: Kanjani8 (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: Curling, Dolphins, Dreams, Fake Character Death, M/M, cracky humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-26
Updated: 2012-04-26
Packaged: 2017-11-20 17:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/587740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buzzbird/pseuds/buzzbird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryo’s subconscious is a mysterious place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dreamcatcher

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the mini-ryo exchange @ LJ

They’ve come so far, they won’t lose now. Can’t lose now. Ryo moves his shoes across the flawless ice to steady himself and exchanges looks with his teammates one by one. Maru and Yasu wave at him from the side. Their coach Yoko, who is sitting next to them, looks pleased, confident in their ability to win this. To Ryo’s right, Ohkura looks grim, a determined expression on his face. It only makes sense, since he’ll be throwing the rock the last two times. Subaru looks tense. Ryo must be looking tense too, because Hina gives him one of his biggest smiles ever.   
This is it, their last end. Will they win Japan’s first golden medal? The butterflies in Ryo’s stomach settle along with the cheers from the crowd. Hina gets into position and then Ryo has to pay attention to Ohkura. They exchange looks, take one more breath and then they’re off, and Ryo starts sweeping like his life depends on it.   
  
\--  
  
Yoko cackles for the fifth time as Ryo relays the story to his bandmates.   
  
“You dreamt  _what_  now?” Ohkura asks when he walks in, suddenly looking a lot more amused than tired.  
  
“Well uhm,” Ryo says, “like I just said. We were an, uhh, Olympic curling team. And we were actually winning.”   
  
“Dokkun,” Yoko gets out, tears in his eyes, “next album do a song with me okay? I want a creative mind like that to write songs with me.”  
  
Ryo looks around for support, for someone to tell Yoko that he, Ryo, is more than capable of writing and recording a song by himself, but no one seems especially opposed to the idea. In fact, Ryo catches some of them (Subaru, Maru) trying not to laugh. Yasu looks vaguely intrigued. Only Hina doesn’t seem too sold on the idea. Especially when Yoko puts his arms around Ryo’s neck (close, way too close!), and starts fake-pleading so that Ryo agrees to the collaboration.   
  
The death glares Hina is throwing Ryo now are enough to make him wonder if the rumors about Yoko and Hina might actually be true.   
  
Five minutes of Yoko alternating whining and mocking later, Ryo decides that he hates them all and that he’s going to ask Johnny for a solo album next chance he gets.   
  
\--  
  
Ryo’s dreams haven’t always been this weird. Or at least, he didn’t remember that many of his dreams. And especially not in such vivid detail. These days though, he remembers everything. Which is nice in some cases (sexy dreams), and not so nice in others (running from pink zombies wasn’t actually as hilarious as Yoko thought it was). In all cases though, the dreams leave him pretty exhausted, and it isn’t before long that the gossiping of make-up artists (“I bet he sleeps with a different girl every night.” “Only one girl?!”) reaches Johnny’s ears.   
  
“YOU,” he says, his stern look making Ryo feel very uncomfortable very fast, “what have you been doing?”  
  
“Sir, I uhm,” Ryo starts, but Johnny interrupts him.  
  
“I need you to party less and sleep more, Nishikido, there’s only so much I can do to keep you out of the tabloids.”   
  
Ryo is dismissed by a wave of Johnny’s hand and it’s only when he closes the door behind him that he realizes he has no idea what he did to warrant a scolding like that. He’s trying very hard to remember the last time he went out but…  
  
“Stop trying to think, Ryo-chan, judging by the look on your face it’s pretty painful,” a familiar voice tells him.  
  
Ryo lets out a sigh. He doesn’t even have to look to know that voice belongs to Ninomiya, not exactly the most helpful person right now. (Though in a few days time Ryo will have a hard time trying to come up with who  _would_  have been able to help him.)  
  
“Your face makes being alive look painful,” Ryo bites back.  
  
Nino walks up to him and puts an arm around Ryo’s shoulder.  
  
“I know my face is unbearably beautiful, but we all have our burdens, Ryo-chan,” Nino says, and he keeps a straight face for at least three more seconds before he steps away and dissolves into giggles.  
  
There are too many pale, giggling idiots in Ryo’s life, he concludes after watching Nino wipe the tears from his eyes.  
  
“Seriously though Mr. Scrunchy-Brows, what’s the matter?” Nino asks, and apart from the amused look in his eyes he actually looks genuinely interested in Ryo’s problems. Ryo relays the conversation with Johnny.   
  
“But I haven’t even set foot in a club ever since Jin decided he wanted to play house, so it’s totally weird, right?”   
  
Nino frowns and looks at Ryo. Looks him up and down. Walks a circle around him. When Ryo is feeling sufficiently awkward under the intense scrutiny, Nino hums.  
  
“What?” Ryo asks.  
  
“Well,” Nino says, folding his arms over his chest, “I don’t think it’s all that weird Johnny thinks you’ve been misbehaving. You usually have been, when you look like this.”  
  
“When I look like  _what_?” Ryo asks darkly.  
  
“Like you got run over by Yamashita’s American truck. Seriously, go home, sleep.”  
  
“But I still have to--”  
  
“No you don’t. Trust me, there’s nothing in this world you need to do more than sleep.”  
  
Ryo throws Nino a skeptical look.   
  
“It’s Ryo-chan’s bedtime!” Nino calls out for the benefit of a couple of juniors passing them, who, Ryo appreciates, do their best not to giggle too loud. Ryo looks at Nino with the most unamused face he can muster, but to no avail.   
  
“Goodnight, Ryo-chan!” Nino tells him before turning around and disappearing behind the doors of Johnny’s office.   
  
Sometimes Ryo wonders how it’s possible for one person to gather so many immature idiots around him. He turns around and goes home. Maybe he will get some sleep after all. He is actually feeling pretty tired.  
  
\--  
  
“How did you do it?” Ryo asks, astonished to see Jin on the other side of the window.   
  
Jin jumps up and down a little.   
  
“How the hell am I-,” he squeaks and then with a lower voice, “How the hell am I supposed to know,  _Flipper_. I just woke up like this.”  
  
“Well,” Ryo hears Yamapi say from across the water, “let us know if you find out. I’m dying to get out of this place.”  
  
“Don’t worry,” Jin says, “I’ll get you guys out of there in no time.”   
  
He flashes them a grin. It’s much more subtle than what Ryo is used to seeing from Jin, but it suits him, somehow.   
  
“Oh,” Yamapi says, “looks like the show’s about to begin, Ryo!”  
  
Ryo swims over to where Yamapi is headed. They have to start on the left side of the tank. Ryo hears the music starting to play and sees the staff running around above them, getting on their little floating platforms. When the first staff member holds up a hoop Yamapi swims off as fast as he can, and Ryo follows. Yamapi jumps up and again, Ryo follows. But when Ryo gets back in the water and excitedly swims on to the next hoop, a burning one this time, he doesn’t see Yamapi.   
  
Ryo is worried, but he’s also a professional, so he gathers speed and jumps out of the water and through the burning hoop without any problems. He has done this hundreds of times after all. But what he sees right before he dives into the water again makes him feel like his skin is covered in ice, instead of burns.  
  
Jin and Yamapi, both standing in the audience, both looking very unimpressed with Ryo’s acrobatics, both human and both making their way out of the audience, leaving Ryo behind.   
  
\--  
  
Ryo sits up straight with a gasp. He fumbles around in the dark for the light switch. He’s breathing hard and feels sweaty all over. When he gets up and walks to the kitchen for a drink of water his heart is pounding in his head.   
  
“Seriously, dolphins?!” he groans. Ryo thinks he might be going a little insane.  
  
At least with this dream he could guess what his subconscious was trying to tell him, even if they were… dolphins.   
  
Why the hell would he dream about being a  _dolphin_  of all things though? He shivers from the cold and goes back to bed. By the time he falls asleep again the first rays of sunshine are slowly creeping through Ryo’s curtains.   
  
\--  
  
“Can you get some cilantro from over there, Ryo?” Kame asks while adding fresh vegetables to the wok so fast, Ryo doesn’t know whether to be impressed or slightly afraid of what a meal this healthy might do to his digestive system. He looks in the direction Kame pointed, but truth be told Ryo has no idea what cilantro even looks like.   
  
“It’s the uhm, with the… no, to the left,” Kame tries, but when Ryo reaches for a plant that is apparently not cilantro, Kame walks over and picks a handful of leaves from a weird smelling plant before rushing back to the kitchen.  
  
When they sit down at the table five minutes later and aside from the rice and soup there are 4 different dishes sitting between them, all of them looking equally mouth-watering.   
  
“So,” Kame says, “you said you wanted my advice on something?”  
  
Kame smiles at him while Ryo quickly tries to eat his fish.   
  
“Hmm,” Ryo hums while he swallows the last bite, “yeah. I thought I’d ask the expert. What are like, normal signs if you’re working too much and might be going kind of insane?”  
  
Kame snorts.   
  
“Glad to see you haven’t become any nicer in the past few months,” Kame notes before starting on his soup.  
  
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Like, what if you’re having weird dreams about building sand castles on the moon and stuff like that?”  
  
“Ryo, you’re not going insane,” Kame says, “you already are.”  
  
Ryo points his chopsticks at Kame.  
  
“Hey,” he says, “not helping.” And he stuffs some more rice into his mouth, because somehow it’s the only thing that doesn’t seem to taste like  _soap_.   
  
\--  
  
The next weird dream Ryo has leaves him with more than a sleepless night. It haunts him during the days and nights that follow as well. If he thought the zombie dream was bad, this is much, much worse.  
  
In the dream Yamapi is yelling at him, face contorted in rage. He’s throwing things on the ground and pushing Ryo. He’s laughing at Ryo. No, he’s mocking him.   
  
Ryo feels frustrated in the dream. Because it wasn’t his fault he had two bands and he had to make a choice. It’s not his fault he couldn’t stay behind to take care of them and it’s beyond unfair that Yamapi is putting this all on him. So he starts yelling and pushing back. The next moment, suddenly Yamapi is on the ground, on his back, and Ryo is straddling him. But in this dream, Ryo’s hands are around Yamapi’s neck and the color has already drained from his face.  
  
The rest of the night and the next day after the dream, Ryo keeps replaying the scenes in his head. If he felt like he was going insane before, he sure feels like it now. It’s not even the dream that’s scaring him most this time. It’s him. Every time Ryo looks at his hands he can still feel how Yamapi’s neck felt beneath them, how  _easy_  it was really, to cut off Yamapi’s breath. Every time he looks in the mirror he can’t help but feeling guilty. The dream was scary, but being awake is even scarier. What if he’s actually capable of something like that?   
  
At least with the other dreams Ryo could talk to other people about it, no matter how weird or scary the dream was. Usually when he was done telling every little detail about a dream and Matsujun or whoever happened to be listening summarized the whole thing in a couple of sentences over a drink or two, Ryo realized his subconscious was a pretty ridiculous place. But not with this dream.   
  
Ryo has gone over it a hundred times the past few days and there is nothing ridiculous about it. Apart from the fact that Ryo is a murderer of course. He knows he’s overreacting and he shouldn’t even think about it, but the image of Yamapi’s colorless face has made itself comfortable at the forefront of Ryo’s mind, and there’s nothing he can do to focus on actual things that are actually important. Writing the music for Kanjani8’s new single, for example.   
  
Ryo calls in sick for the rest of the week and refuses to see anyone. He even pretend-whines about the terrible flu he has on twitter, just to keep people from checking in on him over the phone. Or even worse: people coming over. Ryo doesn’t want to see anyone, because he’s sure if he’s around people now, they’ll ask him what’s wrong. And Ryo is a terrible liar.   
  
He’s sure no one in their right mind will come see him with the terrible things he’s putting online though. Of course, Ryo is wrong in assuming the people on his twitter are all mentally sane.  
  
It starts with a text from Jin, a few days later.  
  
 _Dude, are you really that sick? Pi and I got permission from the missus to go out tonight, want to come?_  
  
Ryo ignores it and tweets something about being very preoccupied with failing to keep his breakfast down. That should be clear enough, Ryo thinks, before flopping down on the couch, restarting his movie, and grabbing his cup noodles.   
  
He’s actually been doing pretty well. After a few days, the details of the dream started becoming a little vaguer, and Ryo started feeling more and more like he was just being a big baby.   
  
The thing about pretending to be really sick though, is that you can’t just show up at work two days later like nothing ever happened. Therefore, Ryo has come up with a plan. He wrote two songs yesterday, and the sheet music is sitting on his desk, ready to be shown to the guys. Tomorrow he’s going to start operation ‘hey I’m actually feeling kind of okay’ and then the day after that he’s going to work and forget this ever happened. Ryo sees no flaws in this plan. He’s also not feeling guilty about it at all, no sir.   
  
Another text from Jin.  
  
 _Earth to Ryo, are you still alive?_  
  
Wow, Ryo thinks, Jin’s being persistent.   
  
Ryo doesn’t think going clubbing with the usual gang while he’s supposedly sick is going to do his reputation with Johnny any good though. He turns off his phone and focuses on the movie again. It’s a comedy about a guy who inherits six of the most retarded penguins ever. One hour later Ryo’s so endeared by the silly little things that he doesn’t even notice the familiar voices outside until someone knocks on his door.   
  
Ryo freezes and then quickly turns off his TV.   
  
“Let’s go back, maybe he’s just sleeping,” Ryo hears Yamapi say, and something in his stomach does a little back flip.  
  
“You heard what the boss said,” Jin replies.  
  
“About calling your in-laws?” Yamapi asks.  
  
“No, stupid,” Jin hisses at Yamapi, “about Ryo being really sick. She said that if someone manages to complain more than I do, they must really be feeling like they’re dying, remember.”  
  
“…Jin,” Yamapi says, “Meisa was  _kidding_. And you really should stop calling other people stupid. You’re the one who forgot on which side of the road to drive.”  
  
“ANYWAY,” Jin says, a little louder than necessary in Ryo’s opinion (Ryo’s neighbors agree), “the point is, I have a key.”  
  
“No way,” Yamapi laughs, “why would  _you_  have keys to Ryo’s-”  
  
Followed by the sound of several keys clinking together.  
  
Ryo, who up until that point had been very amused listening to their conversation, panics. How is he going to explain this? What should he say? He can’t tell them the truth right?  
  
The sound of keys in the door.   
  
Shit, Ryo thinks, I should hide the noodles. No wait, he mentally corrects himself, they’ll see I’m not sick anyway. They love food, right? I should offer them my food to make it up to them, or something. Or maybe I shouldn’t give them something like noodles. Yes, he decides, I’ll get them good food. But where am I going to leave this?   
  
And then Jin and Yamapi are standing in Ryo’s living room. Staring at him while he fumbles around with his cup noodles, not knowing what to do with them.  
  
“Ryo,” Yamapi starts.  
  
“Hey!” Jin points at Ryo, “You don’t look sick at all!”  
  
Groaning, Ryo puts the noodles back on the table and flops over on the couch while they scold him for making them worry for nothing.   
  
\--  
  
“So let me get this straight,” Tegoshi says, “you were fighting with Yamapi?”  
  
Ryo nods.  
  
“And the fight was about us?”  
  
Ryo nods again.  
  
“And then… you strangled him?”  
  
“Ahh,” Ryo cries out, hiding his face in his hands, “this is so embarrassing!”  
  
Tegoshi politely waits until Ryo feels brave enough again to emerge from behind his hands. Ryo appreciates it. This is why they got along so well when they were still working together, Ryo thinks. Tegoshi really respects Ryo’s bounda-”  
  
“Are you done being five years old now?”   
  
“Hey,” Ryo protests, “I resent that. You’re the one who ordered us the Hello Kitty desserts.”  
  
“I’m not going to apologize for my preference for strawberry mouse desserts, Ryo. Contrary to what your subconscious would have you believe, some us actually do have careers to get back to. My time is limited and very precious.”  
  
Ryo stares outside. He’s not really sure why he’s here, talking to Tegoshi. He only knows that when Jin and Yamapi came to his house, he told them that he sort of freaked out about a nightmare and that that’s why he didn’t want to see anyone. Suddenly they started speaking to each other in some sort of Pin code Ryo didn’t understand (truth be told it might have been English) and when he came back from the bathroom there was a note on his table, telling him to meet them at this restaurant.  
  
“Ryo!” Tegoshi exclaims exasperated, “Do you want to hear what I think or not?”  
  
Ryo doesn’t think anything Tegoshi has to say will have any added value, but he makes a grumbling sound of acknowledgement anyway and sinks deeper down into his seat.   
  
“You know you’re an idiot for actually believing your dreams are always about whatever’s in the dream, right?”  
  
“I don’t-” Ryo starts to protest and then, “Yeah,” he mumbles through his scarf, barely audible.  
  
“Okay, well, remember that for next time you have a dream and you think it might have prophetic properties. I don’t think it should be necessary for Jin and Yamapi referring you to a psychologist every time you have a  _nightmare_.”  
  
He’s not even a real psychologist, Ryo thinks, though that might be for the best. If Ryo thought he felt embarrassed before, when he was still hiding in his apartment by himself, it’s nothing compared to sitting in a crowded restaurant and having Tegoshi – of all people – tell him he’s being a baby.   
  
“The fight about us was probably your brain still processing you and Yamapi leaving NEWS, maybe even because you feel a little guilty?” Tegoshi continues.  
  
Ryo nods.  
  
“That’s all perfectly normal, we worked together for a very long time so it makes sense that you’re still processing all that. Strangling someone though… that’s a different story.”  
  
“It is? Why?” Ryo asks, a little skeptical of whatever spin Tegoshi is going to give all this.   
  
“Because,” Tegoshi sighs, “dreams are very symbolic and strangulation doesn’t mean what you think it means.”  
  
Tegoshi shoves aside their empty plates.  
  
“Listen, dream interpretation isn’t exactly science or anything, but it’s one of my hobbies. What I’m going to tell you is what people usually think it means, so don’t go freaking out about it okay?”  
  
Ryo makes a vague move with his hands, gesturing Tegoshi to keep talking.   
  
“If you’re strangling someone in your dreams,” Tegoshi continues, “it usually means that you’re frustrated with the person, or with the part of yourself that person represents.”  
  
“Okay,” Ryo says, “thanks, that kind of makes sense.”  
  
Please let him leave now, Ryo thinks. He has things to do, like killing Jin, for example.   
“Are you sure, because if there are things you’re not sure about, we could talk about them?” Tegoshi says.  
  
“Ahw, no,” Ryo says, smiling, “I know you’re a very busy man.”  
  
“Okay,” Tegoshi says, “I’ll be heading back then.”  
  
Thank god, Ryo thinks, but he makes sure to keep smiling at Tegoshi while he gets his things. Wouldn’t want Tegoshi to think something is still bothering him.   
  
“Oh and by the way, I’ve had plenty of dreams about strangling you, Ryo-chan,” Tegoshi says, winking and smiling at him before walking away and leaving Ryo to pay for the pink desserts.  
  
\--  
  
Despite the couple of days of lying around at home, Ryo doesn’t feel very rested. Aside from the weird dreams, Ryo’s also been having more and more normal dreams. They’re not  _really_  normal though, because he still remembers every single detail about them and he never feels really rested.   
  
The ‘normal’ dreams are usually about Ryo hanging around somewhere. Sometimes by himself, sometimes with Yamapi, sometimes with other people. There was this one dream that Ryo would have categorized as normal, if it hadn’t been for Jin going on and on about how he still loves Kame and how he should name his kid after him, because hasn’t he always been there for Jin and yada yada yada.   
  
Ryo decides to keep telling his bandmates about some of the weirder dreams. It doesn’t make them any less weird (if anything, Subaru’s interpretations of Ryo’s dreams make everything even more special), but it allows Ryo to stop worrying about them and to focus on his job. One time Ryo and Yoko even try to write some lyrics based on one of his dreams, because ‘tiny giraffes are even cuter than pandas!’ Eventually Ryo even feels comfortable enough to talk about the nightmare about NEWS and Yamapi.   
  
This, as it turns out, is a mistake.  
  
Ryo decides Yasu is probably the least likely to judge him for the dream and for staying at home. When it’s just him and Yasu in their dressing room (and Subaru, but he’s been asleep for over an hour already), Ryo carefully broaches the subject. He tells Yasu everything. From the contents of the dream, to Jin and Yamapi´s visit and the awkward talk with Tegoshi.   
  
Yasu is very understanding and Ryo makes him promise not to let Yamapi or Jin know about the contents of the dream. Of course, Subaru (who only ever pretends to be asleep and thinks his bandmates are complete and total idiots for not noticing after all this time, the suckers) makes no such promises.   
  
\--  
  
Ryo is still recovering from a particularly strange dream about dancing orange penguins in his living room (he should never have watched the penguin movie a second time) when there’s someone knocking on his door. Ryo grabs his phone to look at the time. It’s not even noon yet, on a  _Sunday_. Ryo pulls his blankets up a little further and decides he’s not home.   
  
What seems like seconds later he’s woken by a dip in the bed.   
  
Okay, Ryo thinks, don’t panic.   
  
“Ryo-chaaan,” Yamapi whispers in his ear and Ryo’s eyes shoot open.  
  
Yamapi’s face is so close to Ryo; he can count Yamapi’s eyelashes. Ryo just stares at Yamapi until he realizes, “Wait, what the hell, how did you get in?!”  
  
Yamapi chuckles in response, rolling away from Ryo.  
  
“I had Jin give me your keys. I really didn’t think it made sense that he still had them. He doesn’t even live in the neighborhood anymore,” Yamapi explains, sitting up now and grinning down at Ryo.  
  
“I’ll be wanting those back,” Ryo grumbles, rolling onto his back.   
  
“No way,” Yamapi chirps, “what if you lock yourself out of your apartment someday. Won’t it be nice if someone close by has your keys?”  
  
“You don’t live in the neighborhood either, Pi!” Ryo protests, “Your house is like a thirty minute drive away from here!”  
  
“Oh, about that,” Yamapi says, “Jin kind of… begged me to move to his old apartment, because he can’t let go of it yet or some nonsense like that. As if he’s not loving every single second of married life.”  
  
“Wait,” Ryo says, “you’re going to leave your awesome penthouse in  _Ebisu_  because Jin wants you to? You’ve finally gone crazy, huh?”   
  
“Speaking of crazy,” Yamapi starts, “I went out to dinner with Tackey last night.”  
  
Ryo laughs and gets out of bed. He fixes his boxer shorts that have kind of twisted weirdly and walks to the kitchen. “Coffee?” he calls back.  
  
“Uhh yeah,” Yamapi calls back from the bedroom. He follows Ryo to the kitchen a few seconds later.   
  
“So what crazy thing did you and Tackey do last night?” Ryo asks and he puts some coffee into his coffeemaker. “Wait,” he says, “that came out wrong,” Ryo laughs.  
  
“Well,” Yamapi starts, “it was uhh, interesting. We were talking about you, actually.”  
  
“About me,” Ryo repeats, getting two mugs from the dishwasher (a red and a blue one Yamapi once gave him), and turning around to give Yamapi his undivided attention.  
  
“Yes,” Yamapi says, “Tackey uhh, heard some things he thought I should know about.”  
  
Ryo glares at Yamapi. “You woke up a sleep-deprived man. This better be good, Pi.”  
  
“Hmm,” Yamapi hums, staring at the ground, “I don’t really know how to say this.”  
  
Ryo turns around to pour the coffee and hands one of the mugs (the red one) to Yamapi.  
  
“Not getting any younger here, Pi,” Ryo says, “just tell me already.”  
  
Yamapi looks at him now.  
  
“Tackey said,” he starts, “that Subaru told him… that the nightmare you had… the one you stayed home for… he said it was about me.”   
  
Fuck, Ryo thinks, and he takes a sip of his coffee so he doesn’t have to say anything.  
  
“He said… that it was about us… having sex.”  
  
And that’s how Ryo’s favorite coffee mug shatters to pieces.  
  
“He said…what… I… Pi… no,” Ryo stammers, “I-it’s not like that.”  
  
“It’s not?” Yamapi asks.  
  
“Well no,” Ryo says. “It was about you and me, yes, but we were fighting.”  
  
“Oh,” Yamapi says, “I see.”  
  
“I just keep having these really fucked up dreams. Obviously.”  
  
Ryo crouches down and picks up the pieces of his coffee mug. He’s kind of sad that he dropped it, it really was his favorite. Oh well, he thinks, he’ll just have Yamapi buy him a new one. He’s the one who made him drop it anyway.   
  
“And,” Ryo continues when Yamapi helps him get the last few shards, “I mean there was this part at the end that’s a little confusing but…”  
  
“What part?” Yamapi asks as they stand up again and Ryo gets a newspaper to wrap the pieces in before throwing them away.  
  
“I’m not saying,” Ryo says, “but it’s nothing perverted, so you can back off now.”  
  
“Ryo, that’s not why I,” Yamapi starts, and then, “never mind.”  
  
\--  
  
They both have the day off and the weather is awful, so Ryo decides that he and Yamapi should just stay in and watch movies in bed. Ryo is pretty sure that Yamapi will enjoy the penguin movie just as much as he did.   
  
“So Tackey said he’ll help me clean Jin’s old place, but he’s not going to help painting because he hates the fumes,” Yamapi says when the movie is over. “But you’ll come help, right?”  
  
“Please,” Ryo sneers, “you can hire a hundred people to do it for you.” Followed by, “Yeah, I’ll help.”  
  
“Thanks, Ryo-chan,” Yamapi says, “you’re a good friend.”  
  
“Some friend Tackey is, by the way,” Ryo scoffs, “why the hell would he even tell you something like that. It could have made things so awkward.”   
  
“Ryo,” Yamapi starts saying.  
  
“I mean things were already kind of awkward back when Jin told us to go home with that one girl and she wanted, you know. And it’s not like I don’t think you’re not attractive or anything, because I do, but… oh. Oh.”  
  
“What,” Yamapi asks, “sorry, you kind of lost me there.”  
  
“I think you’re attractive,” Ryo repeats.  
  
“Yes,” Yamapi says, “that part I got.”  
  
“No you don’t understand,” Ryo says, freaking out a little, “I don’t mean in an objective ‘you are an attractive person’ kind of way. I like you.”   
  
Ryo feels a little like he’s going crazy. What the hell is going on, he thinks, and then he gets it. He lets out a nervous giggle.   
  
“That little brat was right,” Ryo says.   
  
“Who was right about what?” Yamapi asks.  
  
“Tegoshi,” Ryo explains, “he said my dream meant that I was frustrated with you or some part of me represented by you, and he was right. I mean, I had these other dreams and it all seemed really random, but it makes sense now.” He frowns, “Except the dolphins, because that was just weird.”  
  
“Ryo, do you-”  
  
“Not that this morning’s penguins were normal, or the giraffes from the other day,” Ryo muses to himself.  
  
“Ryo!” Yamapi yells, exasperated.  
  
“Hey,” Ryo says, “no need to shout. My neighbors are probably thinking about filing a noise complaint as it is.”  
  
And then Yamapi is straddling Ryo and pushing him back against the head rest and kissing him. Yamapi’s hands are on Ryo’s back, dipping just below the elastic of his boxer shorts and trailing back up over Ryo’s sides and his shoulders. And then, suddenly, Yamapi pulls away.   
  
“Hey!” Ryo protests, “no fair.”  
  
“You actually like me back? Are you fucking kidding me?” Yamapi asks, incredulous and out of breath.  
  
“Obviously not,” Ryo says, also out of breath.   
  
For a few awkward moments they sit there staring at each other.  
  
“So,” Ryo starts, “you like me, too?”  
  
“Obviously,” Yamapi says.  
  
“Huh. Interesting,” Ryo says.   
  
Ryo’s doesn’t really how or when it happens, but the next time he comes up for air it’s him straddling Yamapi, instead of the other way around.  
  
“Hi,” Ryo says, looking down at Yamapi’s flushed face.   
  
“Hi,” Yamapi says back, eyes wide.  
  
Ryo’s phone buzzing under his pillow distracts them both.   
  
Ryo grabs the phone, ready to turn it off when he sees it's a text from Tegoshi.   
  
 _Ryo-chan, I talked to my classmate this morning and we both think your dream means you like Yamapi!_  
  
“Helpful,” Ryo deadpans and shows the text to Yamapi.  
  
“Very,” Yamapi agrees and then takes the phone from Ryo and kisses him again.  
  
And as Ryo pulls Yamapi’s shirt off he thinks, that maybe, helpfulness is overrated anyway.   
  
\--  
  
Ryo wakes up a few hours later, feeling strangely rested. Yamapi looks so vulnerable, sleeping next to him; Ryo has to suppress the urge to pull Yamapi into his arms.   
  
He fails.  
  
“Hmmwhasup,” Yamapi mumbles against Ryo’s neck.  
  
Ryo smiles and presses a kiss against Yamapi’s hair.  
  
“Nothing,” Ryo says, “I just had a really nice dream.”  
  
Yamapi makes a sound of acknowledgement and starts kissing Ryo’s neck, making Ryo shiver with anticipation.  
  
“What was it about?” Yamapi whispers into Ryo’s ear, leaving kisses there too.  
  
“Hmm,” Ryo hums, “stop distracting me and maybe I’ll tell you.”  
  
Yamapi stops and pulls away from Ryo, amused eyes looking up at him.   
  
“Oh,” Ryo says, “I uhh, wasn’t being serious about you having to stop. You can keep doing what you were doing. I mean if you want.”  
  
“Ryo-chaaan,” Yamapi chides him, “tell me.”  
  
“Well,” Ryo says, hooking his fingers through the loops of Yamapi’s jeans and pulling Yamapi closer, “for starters, these were on the floor.”  
  
“Hmm,” Yamapi says, going back to kissing Ryo’s neck, “I’m listening.”  
  
“We,” Ryo’s voice catches as Yamapi softly bites the sensitive skin under Ryo’s ear, “we kind of picked up where we left off this morning.”  
  
“So clearly, I’m a good influence on your subconscious,” Yamapi says, and he plants a kiss on Ryo’s lips. “But first,” Yamapi says, kissing his way down Ryo’s chest and nuzzling his belly button.   
  
“What,” Ryo breathes as Yamapi looks up at him, a hungry look on his face.  
  
\--  
  
Ryo wakes up with a start. He looks at Yamapi, who is still sleeping peacefully. As he gets up and looks back down at Yamapi, slowly the events of this morning come back to Ryo. He likes Yamapi. And Yamapi likes him.   
  
Yamapi’s eyes flutter open.  
  
“Hi,” he says, a smile on his face, “where’re you going, come back.”  
  
Ryo smiles back and quickly leans in for a kiss, “I’m just going to take a shower, be right back,” he says.  
  
After all, Ryo thinks, with dreams, you never know.


End file.
